There seems to be a lot of hype around manufacturing in Bali. Due to Bali being in the Far East, there is a misconception that it will be cheaper to make your swimwear in Bali. However, this isn't the case! After checking various websites of popular Bali swim wear manufacturers, the prices for manufacturing swimwear isn't as cheap as you would think. It doesn't cost a few pounds to make a bikini top as it should be there! The prices are very similar as if they were made in the UK and Europe, which doesn't make any sense because machinists in London are paid 9 times higher than what machinists in Bali swim wear manufacturers are being paid. So, this must mean that the manufacturers are just making very high profit margins. Plus, the brands who are paying Bali prices not only are they paying for the garments to be manufactured, but they also need to pay import fees and handling fees to import the good to their country. Therefore this increases the price of each swim garment even higher.
What makes manufacturing in London special?
There are limited numbers of sewing machinists in London, it’s a highly skilled job, something a lot of people do not know about. We want swimwear manufactured in London to be recognised, it’s unique to have swimwear manufactured in London because there are not many factories in London that make swimwear. It’s great to be able to bring manufacturing back to the UK and give the opportunities to many skilled machinists a job. It takes many years of sewing to make someone highly skilled at sewing. At Swimwear Manufacturers, we only hire staff members who have at least 15 years’ experience sewing swimwear garments. We feel that this is the very minimum amount of experience required to sew swimwear to a high enough level as quality is very important to us. Not only because we want all our customers to be happy with the products we make but because details and accuracy is important. Every garment needs to be executed correctly. We want our garments to stand out, especially in the swimwear industry where the market is so saturated. We want our customers to stand out against their competition.
Compared to Bali or other far East countries, there are not many brands manufacturing in London. This is because many of those brands think manufacturing in London, isn’t affordable. However, consumers today and consumers for the last few years are very conscious about where the garments they are wearing are being made. What are the conditions like in these factories? Is the fabric sustainable? Are the machinists being paid fairly for their work? These are important questions and thoughts that need to be considered when purchasing garments today. It’s important to support brands and factories that have a strong ethos for being ethical and sustainable. We all have to support the heart of the clothing industry which is the machinists, without them, we are not able to manufacture clothing.
What makes a garment ethical and sustainable?
The fashion industry contributes to a lot of waste. Therefore, its vital that we do our very best in following more eco-friendly methods of manufacturing and being more conscious in what we are buying. Supporting brands that are eco-friendly. Manufacturing in ethical and sustainable manufacturers in London means you will be paying for your swimwear to be made using recycled fabrics and using factories that pay their staff well and allow them to manufacture in lovely, safe and clean environments.
At Swimwear Manufacturers, we believe these factors are incredibly important, in our case, our machinists are paid well over the living wage as the minimum, especially because machinists work is so skilled, and this should be recognised. The fabrics we use is crucial in doing our part of being more sustainable. We only use fabrics that are made in Europe and the UK. We do not source in other parts of the world because we do not want to import fabrics or trims that need to travel thousands of miles. But to be sustainable, it also means that the trims and fabrics we use, need to be high quality, this allows the garment to be worn for many years to come. Making long lasting garments is part of being sustainable, but also if the garments we make are washed gently and cared for they can last forever, meaning the swimwear garment doesn’t go to landfills. We also do not throw scrap fabric in bins; we donate our scrap fabrics to suppliers that will recycle the fabric into new items such as new textiles or yarns so it can repeat the cycle again.
We have also invested in a new digital system that allows us to make patterns digital to reduce the amount of paper we consume every day. But also, our new system allows us to grade our patterns efficiently, without the need to use meters of paper to trace off every size grade. Doing things digitally also means that we can work out the most economical way of laying our fabrics in production, to reduce fabric waste but to allow us to work out fabric consumption more accurately so customers can order exactly what they need or near enough, if they do need to meet fabric MOQs.
What makes us different to other swimwear manufacturers?
At Swimwear Manufacturers, we are a family run manufacturer which makes our business different, we take pride in our work and build close relationships with our clients. We really do our best to advise our clients and guide them through the process and even after they manufacture their swimwear, we are always available to give advice and tips on marketing and social media ideas to really help new brands sell their clothes easier. Our pattern cutters and graders are our owners and are running our business today to today. You get a more streamline service as we are a small team so work as together to manage our clients as a group.